Catch a Glimpse of Sunlight
by Inkling39
Summary: "You're a genjutsu." she told him, staring at the illusion coldly. "I am not a genjutsu." he told her softly. "Yes, you are." she assured, trying to stay calm. "Because, you're dead... you died five years ago." (SasuSaku) (Mentioned NaruSaku)


_...Nothing goes as planned_

_Everything will break..._

The setting was almost ironic; the clear night sky, the full moon, the cool early autumn chill in the air... it was the same as nine years ago.

Sakura stood stoic, unmoving, not giving away one shred of weakness to the figure before her. This was a trick. It didn't matter if she couldn't feel the restraint or heavy air that usually came with such an illusion, it didn't matter she felt his long forgotton chakra signature, it didn't matter that he looked traveled and aged since she last saw him. He could not possibly be real.

"Sakura." he repeated, voice even deeper and smoother than he remembered.

"You're a genjutsu." she answered coldly, tightening her fists.

That statement contradicted everything she had ever learned and experienced in the field of the mind jutsus, but had it be true. There was no other explanation.

"I am not a genjutsu." he told her softly, taking another step toward her.

She backed away stiffly, trying very hard to stay alert and to keep the swirling emotions within her calm. She would stay firm, she would not be decieved by this cruel appariton.

"Yes, you are." she assured. "Because, you're dead, you died five years ago."

"No, Sakura, I didn't." he shook his head, his voice calm and understanding, as he again pressed foward. "Listen to me..."

"No!" she said firmly, putting her hands up to ward off his advances, but he continued slowly, none-the-less. "You're... you're an illusion nothing more."

The closer he got, the more her resolve began to sway. He looked unquestionably real, from his dark lashes, to the torn seams of his long black cloak, to the white faded scars on his hand. He was too perfect for a genjutsu.

She became distressed, shaking her head back and forth as he reached a hand out toward her, he was far too vivid and far too torturous.

"No! Stop! You're not Sasuke!" she cried. "You can't be!"

"Sakura." he murmured softly, his outstretched hand rising hesitantly to caress the side of her face. "It's me."

"No." she denied his touch and backed away further, refusing to believe his soft, ardent claim.

It couldn't be true. It was too unfair, too cruel for fate to allow such a thing.

"Then do a release seal." he told her, patiently. "If I'm just a vision, cast me away."

She didn't want to, she was too afraid, too afraid of what would happen if he didn't faze out before her, too afraid to accept the truth. Despite all this, she made the sign with her hands and tried her best to focus. "R-release."

He was still there, staring at her. She repeated it several times, almost angrily, before tears began to well up in her jade eyes.

"You died in my arms!" she cried hoarsly, droping her hands. "You died in my arms five years ago, I held you, you stopped breathing, you were dead!" she reasoned almost hysterically, the salty water overflowing from here eyes, down her porceline skin.

"If you're not a genjutsu, then I'm dreaming, or I'm dead, because I held you, I watched you die." she wept. "I stood at your funeral, and I..."

Her breathing hitched as she realized he was standing before her, overpowering her senses. He took her face in his hands, and suddenly she was looking up into the beautiful darkness of his eyes, the eyes she had watched close for the, seemingly, last time five long years ago.

It was him.

"Sasuke?" she asked, feeling his breath against her lips, feeling the pulse within his fingers against the skin of his jawline.

"I'm here, Sakura." he told her. "It's me."

Suddenly dizzy, she began to sway. His arms steadied her around the waist, as her hands took hold of his broad shoulders. Overwhelmed and heartbroken, she let her head fall against his chest tiredly in defeat, letting out a shaky breath at the sound of his beating heart. "I thought you were dead."

"I know."

"No, I thought you were dead." she repeated, her voice breaking into a pitiful whimper, tears beginning to soak through his cloak. "And you've come back too late..."

"No." he whipered, his lips brushing her hairline. "Don't say that."

"But, you don't understand." she told him, her hands tightening against the black fabric drapped over his shoulders, craning her head up to meet his gaze once more. "Sasuke, I..."

"I missed you." he told her, his hands rising to cradle her face once more. "I've always missed you, everyday, and I thought I would never get the chance to tell you this."

Everything within her melted as she saw the love in his eyes, and all her protest was gone.

How could she be so overjoyed and sorrowful at once? How was it possible to feel this way? She needed to do something, to say something, to make this right, but she was rendered speechless when he pulled her forward, bringing their lips together in a tender kiss.

Sakura's eyes closed without another word, her soul singing at his touch, but her heart breaking, knowing what would follow.

This man who moved his lips longingly agianst hers, was not the vengeful criminal who'd caused her pain, nor the broken boy too shrowded in darkness to give in to his heart. This was the man she'd watched die in her arms, the man she loved, the man who told her he'd loved her before breathing his last, the man she would have married.

"Don't, Sakura." he whispered against her lips. "I've come so far, don't give up on me now."

Why? Why did it have to be this way?

"I'm sorry, I thought you were dead." she said again sorrowfully, forcing herself to pull away from him.

"Why do you keep saying that?" he asked his voice thinning slightly, as he reached for her once more.

She held up her left hand and showed him the golden band on her slender finger, shining with a terrible beauty in the light of the moon.

Sasuke stilled.

_...People say goodbye_

_In their own special way..._

...

..._All that you rely on_

_And all that you can fake..._

"Who?" he asked softly, lips brushing against her ear.

"Who do you think?" she asked with a sigh, letting her head fall back against his chest as she looked up to the heavens for answers. She wasn't sure how they ended up like this, sitting like sweathearts beside the burning fire. Though, she wasn't sure how one spent their time with the the love of their life after they had been presummed dead for five years.

"How long?" he asked.

"Two years." she replied.

"Do you have...?"

"No. I was pregnant earlier this spring... we lost the baby." she told him, her voice shaking with emotion as more tears continued to fall over the dried ones.

"Sakura, I'm sorry." he murmured softly, pulling her a little closer to him.

"It broke Naruto, he's never been the same." she continued, her voice becoming small, she was somehow pained and comforted by his embrace. "The baby was so small, we couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl."

She felt Sasuke exhale heavily behind her as he kissed the crown of her head tenderly. "I'm so sorry."

Images of Naruto crying against the wall, slamming his fist repeatedly against the stone until his knuckles bleed, passed through her mind as she remembered the horrible day she told him. Sakura shut her eyes tight to try and block out the pain.

"I can't do this to him." she said, choking on her own voice. "I can't put him through more pain, Sasuke."

This was when she was supposed to stand up and pull away from him, when she was supposed to be strong. But, instead, she just turned into him, relishing in his warmth and heartbeat. Because, despite everything, he was alive and he was with her and she loved him.

He held her despite her contradicting protest, his mind overwhelmed with the conflict before him. Could he do this? Could he do this to his best friend?

"Why?" she asked. "Why didn't you come for me?"

"Sakura..."

"If I'd known you were alive I would have waited for you, why?"

"I couldn't." he said simply.

"You couldn't!?" she asked in bewilderment. "Sasuke, I've been grieving for you for five years!"

"Then why did you marry him?" he asked her incredulously. "If you loved me so much, why did you?"

"Because..."

"Do you even love him?"

"Of course, I love him." she replied hastily. "I love him very much."

"The way you loved me?" he pressed with irritation,

"I have and will never love anyone the way I _love _you." she replied, offended.

"...Then, why, Sakura?" he asked in a low, defeated whisper.

"He lost Hinata during the war," she explained quietly. "We were both suffering, we..."

"So you both decided to live a lie?" he asked, his voice rising slightly. "Was that supposed to solve everything?"

"Was I supposed to just live the rest of my life alone and miserable? Is that what you expected?!" she exclaimed, moving to stand but he held onto her fast."Let go of me!"

"No." he told her sternly. "Not again."

She began to struggle in his hold, tears falling more abundently the more her attempts proved to be in vain. "I would have waited for you till my dying breath if I had the slightest idea you were still alive, you know that. This is _not _my fault."

"What do you want me to say?" he asked, holding on to her more firmly by the shoulders. "That this is all alright, that after having to go on without you for five years that I'll be content watching you with someone else, _him_ of all people?"

"There is nothing I can do about this, Sasuke!" she tried to reason with him, with herself, pushing her hands against his chest, her supernatural strength forsaking her. "It's done! I'm his wife, I..."

Suddenly, with a low growl, Sasuke captured her lips with his own, in an angry, desperate kiss. Sakura gasped against his sudden touch, and almost jumped away had he not grabbed hold of the back of her neck to keep her in place.

"No." he rasped in broken anger. "You're mine, you've always been mine, no one else's."

And suddenly she was beneath him, laying upon the soft green grass, his lips moving roughly over her own, possesing her. She found her resolve breaking as she melted into him, kissing him back with just as much, or even more vigor.

The world became a haze, a dream, one she did not want to wake up from. He held her like it was the most natural thing in the world, kissed her as if he had done so a thousand times. He fit her perfectly, in everyway, and she found herself lost in her love for him. Her arms wound themselves around his neck, holding her to him and refusing to let go. He was hers and he was alive.

Her fingers weaved their way into his ebony locks, massaging his skelp with her nails as he moaned lightly in response. He grew more bold as his hands moved down to her waist and began to lift up the material of her red ninja uniform. She jumped lightly at his touch against her bare skin, and her senses started to return to her.

She couldn't do this.

She turned and broke the kiss, gasping for breathe, only for Sasuke to relentlessly drag his lips over her jawbone and down her neck. She closed her eyes tight as her breathing hitched. He was already breaking her resolve once more.

"Sasuke..." she tried to say pleadingly. "Sasuke, I can't."

Blinking back tears, she moved her small hands down and pushed against his shoulders. "Sasuke, please stop."

He stilled then, and she held her breath.

Sasuke slowly lifted himself to hover over her, his dark features illuminated in the amber glow of the cackling fire. She stared into the raw intensity of his black gaze, entranced and unable to move at the emotions she saw in them. They stared in silence for a small eternity, the only sounds between them was their soft mingled breaths and the flickering fire.

"...I love you, Sakura." he whispered gently, pleadingly.

Those words stilled her. And, suddenly, there was nothing else in the world, nothing besides him. He was the center of her universe. He was everything.

Giving into her heart, she let herself fall as she reached for him, capturing his lips with her own. There was no choice. There was no going back from here. There was only him.

_...Will leave you in the morning_

_But find you in the day..._

...

..._Oh, you're in my veins and I cannot get you out_

_Oh, you're all I taste, at night, inside of my mouth..._

The sound of birds singing and the feel of the cool morning chill woke her, and the smell of earth and mist filled her senses. She wasn't home yet, she was still on her mission. She loved sleeping outside...Her eyes were about to flicker close once more, before she remembered what had taken place beneath the moon and stars last night.

For a moment, she thought it had been a dream until she felt the weight and the warmth of another against her, and then all of reality sunk in.

She shivered as another gust of cold wind brushed against the bare skin of her shoulders, but found it more pleasuring than anything else.

The sun was just rising, warming the fog in an almost ethereal glow, and for a moment she allowed herself to believe she was in another world. A world where she had not just made the biggest mistake of her life by giving into her heart and soul's deepest desires. A world where she was still seventeen, and the man she loved had returned to her.

Sasuke slept peacefully against her chest, his soft raven hair and even breaths caressing her skin. She ran her fingers through his hair and after a few quiet minutes of her ministrations, he stirred lightly. He groaned as he came around, and after planting a gentle kiss to her skin, he inclined his head up to look at her with tired and dazed eyes.

He looked like an angel.

Sakura reached a hand up to caress his face adoringly and he leaned into her touch with a sigh, his lips finding the palm of her hand.

"Morning." he murmured in a soft rasp, a rare smile gracing his features, making her heart flip in her chest.

She loved the peace and the happiness in his eyes and felt her heart warm with the knowledge that it was she who had brought this change in him. Her heart had only ever longed to make him happy.

"Good morning." she whispered back softly, brushing his bangs away from his face tenderly in a feather-light touch.

She wished it indeed to be a good morning, because when it ended there would be only pain, only more heartbreak. For now she would pretend, she would get lost in his eyes and the morning haze.

..._Oh, you run away..._

...

"I have to go back." she said, staring into the miles of forest ahead of her. "No doubt all of the Leaf has been emptied out to look for me."

The guilt had found her now, as she sat with the sleeping bag pulled up against her to preserve her modesty. Sasuke still lay on the grass, watching her with lidded eyes, memorising her, as his calloused fingers traveled up and down her bare back.

"Stay." he murmured softly, making her sigh and lift her head toward the heavens. How she wanted to. How she wanted to run away with him and never look back. Run from the pain she had caused, be where she truly belonged.

This all would have been easier if he had kept his heart and feelings buried deep inside himself for none to see, as he had always done when they were children; if he had tried to make her hate him as he had done relentlessly when he had deflected from the village; then perhaps she could have convinced herself that he didn't love her...

But no, instead he had opened his heart to her at the worst moment imaginable, shown her his true self and the deepest depths of his heart, and she knew now she would never be able to let him go.

"This shouldn't have happened." she told him, burying her face in her hands. They would have spared themselves so much more pain had they not given in.

She heard him sit up beside her and felt the brush of his lips over her shoulder. "Do you regret it?"

_Do you regret me?_

Sakura turned to look back at him, her jade-green eyes glistening. "No, never."

He gave her a pained smile, letting his lips linger on her shoulder, keeping his gaze on her. "Then come with me."

"I can't just leave him." she replied, looking back to the wild forest, to the road that led to her beloved village.

"He'd understand." Sasuke spoke up. "If that Hyuuga girl survived somehow, wouldn't you have freed him."

She knew she would have, without a second thought. But Naruto would never leave her without a word, he would never do what she had just done to him.

"I'm all he has left." she murmured softly. "He would never abandon me, and I..."

"Sakura." he murmured softly, bringing her gaze back to him. "I won't be your distant lover, watching from afar while you're with him, I can't do that."

"I'm not asking that." she told him, offended that he would think so little of her.

"Then you have to choose." he told her.

She shook her head and tried to be rational. "Sasuke, ten hours ago I had no idea you were still alive... now you're asking..."

"I know what I'm asking of you, Sakura." he told her. "And I know it's not easy, but I wouldn't ask you if I thought you didn't love me, that you would be happier elsewhere. It's your choice."

She sighed as he pulled her back down with him to the forest floor and let her head find rest against his shoulder.

"I want to go with you." she spoke. "But, I need to go back, to explain this... to say goodbye... I owe them all that."

"...How long?"

"Can you give me one week?" she asked softly.

_One week for eight years? _

He nodded, his lips against the seal of her forehead. "I'll come for you."

_...Cause I am not what you found... Oh, you're in my veins..._

_I cannot get you out..._

* * *

><p>Okay... so fellas and ladies... I have no idea what this is...<p>

I just wrote it, bit by bit, while working on other things for the last couple days! It was decent, so I posted it. So, please, tell me, should I leave it like so? Make a story out of it? SasuSaku? NaruSaku? What do you think? Fill up the reviews.


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